Angels' Ben Joyce Provides Ominous Update on Shoulder Injury

The Los Angeles Angels are off to a hot start this season, but were forced to place right-handed reliever Ben Joyce on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation.

Joyce had a velocity decrease during his Tuesday evening appearance, but went about it as if it were just a bad day in terms of stuff.

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“I just thought it was normal soreness,” Joyce said via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. “It ended up getting re-evaluated and it’s just a little more inflamed than we wanted it to be.”

#Angels transactions:

•Recalled RHP Michael Darrell-Hicks from Triple-A Salt Lake

•Placed RHP Ben Joyce (right shoulder inflammation) on 15-day injured list (retro to April 9)
— Angels PR (@LAAngelsPR) April 11, 2025

For someone that has hit 105 mph on his fastball, and was averaging over 102 mph on his four-seam last year, Joyce was only clocking an average of 99.3 mph during his most recent outing.

Manager Ron Washington shared the same confusion as Joyce did when it came to his newfound inflammation.

“I just thought it was just the day he had off,” Washington said. “He’s a human being. There’s no perfection in baseball. And as good as an arm as he has, there’s times when I have seen him get hit. So I only took it as that.”

When ased how concerned he was, Joyce had a somewhat ominous update.

“I don’t really know yet," he said. "Just see how it progresses.”

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Joyce has an unfortunate injury history including a Tommy John surgery in college, and missing three months in 2023 with ulnar neuritis.

When asked if a new treatment plan or if edits to his routine moving forward were necessary, he spoke on his current frustration and desire to find something that works.

“I don't know, I’m trying to figure that out,” Joyce said. “I feel like I treat my body very well and I feel like I do the right thing. So it's obviously frustrating just going down again. Just at the end of the day, I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from these times and figure out a routine that can keep me on the field.”

In his place, fellow righty Michael Darrell-Hicks was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake. He struggled in his MLB debut Friday night, allowing three hits, three walks, and four earned runs in one inning of work.

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